
Brands
LVMH appointed Felipe Oliveira Baptista as the new creative director at Kenzo, marking a new chapter in the history of the company dating back to 1970.
Baptista began his career in fashion in Milan before moving to Paris where he settled, working initially for Christophe Lemaire. In 2002, he won the Grand Prix at the Hyères International Festival of Fashion and Photography, an LVMH partner. In 2003, he founded his own label, recognized twice by the ANDAM prize in 2003 and 2005. In 2010, he became creative director of Lacoste.
Retail
J.Hilburn
Custom-made men’s wear company J.Hilburn named Dave DeFeo as CEO, replacing Andy Janowski, who served in the position since April 2018 and will resume his role as chairman of the J.Hilburn board of directors.
DeFeo was most recently CEO of Worth, where he led the brand for more than 10 years. Previously, he was president and chief operating officer The Longaberger Company and president of Doncaster.
J.Hilburn is led by an expansive network of nearly 2,000 personal stylists across all 50 states. The company operates four showrooms, as well as online sales at jhilburn.com. The company plans to launch its new fall collection later this month, as well as make continued enhancements to its omnichannel initiatives and digital platforms in the back half of the year.
Textiles
AWI
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) named Ron Cullen as the independent chair of the new Woolgrower Industry Consultation Panel (WICP).
The appointment was made in conjunction with AWI’s creation of a new, enhanced industry consultation model to provide woolgrowers valuable input into the organization’s priorities and give them an improved say in the future of the Australian merino wool industry. Under the new model, two consultation forums will replace AWI’s existing Industry Consultative Committee–the core WICP and a broader group of the AWI Woolgrower Consultation Group (WCG).
Cullen’s appointment was effective for one year beginning on July 1. He was most recently CEO and director of the Sheepmeat Council of Australia and was previously senior manager in the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, chair of the National Farmers Federation Biosecurity Taskforce and member of the NSW Farmers Executive Council. Cullen is the current chair of the National Sheep Genetics Advisory Committee and chair of Animal Health Australia’s Sheep Health Program Steering Committee.
AWI is a not-for-profit company that invests in research and development, and marketing to increase the profitability of Australian woolgrowers.
Logistics
Deutsche Post DHL Group named Monika Schaller as executive vice president of corporate communications and responsibility. In this position, she will report to Frank Appel, CEO of DHL Group.
Schaller joins DHL from Deutsche Bank, where she was deputy global head of communications and corporate social responsibility. Prior to that, she managed corporate communications for Goldman Sachs in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Central & Eastern Europe and Russia for nine years.